A few years ago we joined M.U.S.E. (musicians united to sustain the environment). They not only promote musicians who sing/play about being conscious of their impact on the earth, but they also promote musicians who try to make their touring eco-friendly (if that is possible…) After wrapping up our tour stats, we decided that we…
Concert in Hancock, MI at FU
Yesterday we gave flute and guitar masterclasses and a concert at Finlandia University sponsored by our friend Pat Valencia who has a Suzuki guitar studio in Hancock called Valencia Estudio. We have found that without people like Pat who really make an effort to be a caretaker for music performance, it would be impossible to…
Floodwood Wayside Lunch
Good Food When We Needed It… Our canvas bag pantry in the trunk was filling up with some gourmet odds and ends from all of the meals we cooked for my family and friends along the way, so we decided to stop in the middle of nowhere (Floodwood, Minnesota) after an especially cranky couple of…
2nd Street Bistro Gig in Ashland, WI
We played a very cool restaurant gig in Ashland, WI last night. We were pleasantly surprised by the 2nd Street Bistro. They serve dishes with local meats and produce, have good regional beers on tap, have a boutique wine list, and of all things, they have music twice a week to help support local musicians!!!…
Following the Rain Across the Plains
The original plan was to camp our way from Idaho to Wisconsin, but of course we followed some massive June thunderstorms throughout Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. We ended up having to do conventional lodging…boo hoo. But, it did afford us some great indoor practice time in preparation for our recital in Houghton, MI. There…
Boise Tango Jam and Milonga
Today we worked with musicians via the Boise Tango Society on playing tango music for tango dances. Our hour and a half session focused on getting a good marcatto, changing up the texture in an arrangement, and how to utilize ventanas (windows) or the places in the music where the phrase breaks before the next…
Moab Oasis
Fresh Food at Last We walked into the Moab Brewery at 11:30am today at the guy at the bar walked up with 20 ounce pours, “pounders are the same price as pints on Sunday, it is our way of celebrating the Sabbath,” he said. “Are we in Utah” I thought? We were further convinced by…
Chesler Park Rocks!
This is one of the most famous places in Canyonlands, an amazing high altitude plains-like area that is surrounded by a castle fortress of eroding rocks. We had fun capturing it at sunset and then making a fantastic dinner. Supreme Backpacking Pasta 6 oz Udon 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 shallot, minced 1 TBS ginger,…
Watercrazed…we’re not by the great lakes anymore
Ahh, Natural Resources… Nothing is too far away from the water source in the Canyonlands campground, but we were worried about finding a place to filter water out in the backcounty. Water is available only in small isolated pools usually as the base of a rock outcrop in the upper parts of the canyons. When…
Rock Etudes
Rock On! My big creative project for the out west trip is to write a set of 25 short flute and guitar etudes that are based on the color hues of the rocks in Canyonlands National Park. I am using a program derived from the Munsell system that categorizes rocks based on RGB colors. I…
All Nighter to Utah
First Few Steps Into Canyonlands Andy drove 26 hours straight through the night to Canyonlands National Park for a six night backpacking trip! I kept Andy up in the wee hours of the night with my obnoxious harmony singing with all of the junk on the radio. (so far I still haven’t touched the wheel)…
Raining Mountains and Mice on the A.T.
Andy on Max’s Patch We continued our section hiking of the Appalachian Trail this May going north just after the Smokey Mountains. Driving great distances to spend many days in a row walking gives me and Andy a time to clear our minds and be ready to take in new experiences when we return home.…
Fanfare Review of Folias’ CDs
by ROBERT SCHULSLAPER for Fanfare Magazine Jan/Feb 2009 Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron, together known as Folias, here showcase their talents and interests, which include tango (Maret is a dancer as well as a musician and a scholar of all things tango), composition, and improvisation. Titled “Waterway,” Blue Griffin 175 is essentially an extended suite…